Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Columbia Waterfront Park Proposal

Columbia Waterfront Park rendering. City officials hope to finally breathe some life into this long-isolated neighborhood by transforming a dingy, two-acre lot into a new waterfront park. Preliminary renderings show a Department of Transportation storage lot at the corner of Columbia and DeGraw streets being converted into new green space, including a dog run and tree-lined lawns and paths.Once a vibrant community, the neighborhood began falling on hard times in the late 1950s after being cut off from adjacent Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill by the construction of the Brooklyn-Expressway.

Brooklyn

It was supposed to be Brooklyn’s next Smith Street, but the Columbia Street Waterfront District never became the borough’s next hot spot thanks to years of being saddled by relentless street-repair work and failed redevelopment projects.

But now city officials hope to finally breathe some life into this long-isolated neighborhood by transforming a dingy, two-acre lot into a new waterfront park, according to the Brooklyn Blog.

Preliminary renderings show a Department of Transportation storage lot at the corner of Columbia and DeGraw streets being converted into new green space, including a dog run and tree-lined lawns and paths.

Columbia Waterfront Park would run parallel behind industrial containers and massive cranes of working piers, but would still offer visitors scenic Manhattan-skyline views.

And like Brooklyn Bridge Park, located a half-mile north, it would be a major stop on the city’s 14-mile Brooklyn Greenway bicycle-path project.

“It’s our hope that this open space will help make Columbia Street a destination again,” said Robert Pirani, a vice president at Regional Plan Association, which is overseeing the design phase with Brooklyn Greenway Initiative.

Both nonprofit groups and city officials will host a meeting beginning 6:30 pm Feb. 2 at the Union Street Star Theater (101 Union Street) to begin soliciting community input before coming up with a final plan.

Once a vibrant community, the neighborhood began falling on hard times in the late 1950s after being cut off from adjacent Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill by the construction of the Brooklyn-Expressway.

The Bloomberg administration wanted to revive the area by pushing the shipping terminal out in favor of new housing, a conference center, cruise terminal and beer garden along Piers 7-10. But in 2008, the Port Authority, which owns the land, ultimately opted to keep it a working port.

Meanwhile, the neighborhood the past six years has also been banged by a series of street-repair projects of aging infrastructure along Columbia and Van Brunt streets that have made things difficult for existing businesses.

This work is expected to last several more years. When it is done, DOT will no longer need the lot to store equipment. In the interim, officials are trying to come up with a design the community is behind and enough funding.